Ducks believe they can put something together

Win. Lose. Win. Lose. The Ducks have been a skipping record for nearly a month, having alternated on wins and losses for nine straight games.

It’s past time for the needle to find its groove, particularly with the regular season tapering to an end. The Ducks have an opportunity Sunday to win consecutive games for the first time since Jan.17-19 and add a semblance of a building block.

“We’ve just got to string together wins here,” Ryan Kesler said. “We’ll be fine. I think we all believe in this group in here.”

Kesler’s optimism is based on their defensive identity. The Ducks have given up two goals or fewer in 13 of their past 14 wins. Offensively, they’ve recently had two five-goal outbursts to support that defense.

“I don’t think we’re going to score five goals every night, but it’s nice, once in a while, to get those,” Kesler said. “I think this team needs to focus on winning 1-0, 2-1 games, and really getting a lot of playoff [type] minutes that way.”

Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle wants to stay positive but also critiqued his team’s lack of five-on-five scoring — the Ducks are 20th in the NHL — and a power play that has scored once in 12 games.

Corey Perry could help in both areas. But his underachieving season was difficult to ignore Friday, when he took three penalties and shot wide on a prime chance in front of the net on a firstperiod power play.

Asked if Perry’s three penalties warranted a conversation or action, Carlyle said yes.

“What action? That’s my decision,” Carlyle said.

Of course, the Ducks need to get power plays in order to score, and they drew one against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“If we continually accept being on the outside, we’re not going to draw as many penalties,” Carlyle said. “That’s one of the issues for us is, we’ve got to get inside and get into that battle area and play more inside the critical area in the offensive zone.”

Stoner update

Defenseman Clayton Stoner said he has had setbacks in his recovery from Dec. 21 abdominal surgery. He has skated off and on for the past month and said he “can’t get the muscle to feel right.”

Stoner was initially thought to miss four to six weeks, but his timetable is unknown.

“It has taken longer than we had hoped, for sure,” Stoner said. “But there was no real deadline, so it’s been one of those things that it kind of heals when it heals.”

Ducks General Manager Bob Murray said he won’t allow Stoner to do a minor league rehab assignment until he has put together several days of being 100%.

Stoner acknowledged the window for his return is getting smaller.

“As an athlete, you always put pressure on yourself to get back as quick as you can,” he said. “There’s nothing worse than watching your team play and basically feeling useless. So there’s the pressure coming from

TODAY VS. VANCOUVER

When: On the air: TV: Prime Ticket; Radio: 830. Update: The Canucks, who have fallen back in the wildcard race, departed with longtime forwards Alexandre Burrows and Jannik Hansen before the trade deadline. Bo Horvat remains a bright spot with 19 goals and 41 points through Friday.